Liquid solid separator



Feb. 12, 1952 G. D. ALVORD 2,585,719

LIQUID SOLID SEPARATOR Filed Jan. :5. 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 v INVENTOR.

Feb. 12, 1952 ALVORD 2,585,719

' LIQUID SOLID SEPARATOR Filed Jan. 5. 1947 l J 2 SHEETSSHEET 2INVENTOR.

g a aazzmc Patented Feb. 12, 1952 Grove D. Alvord, Indiana,Pa.,--'assign'or to Syntron Company, Homer City, Pa, a "corporation ofDelaware Application January 3, 1947, Sc'r'ial No. 720,045

3 Claims. (01. 210-449 This invention relates generally to a method andapparatus for separating liquids and solids such as dewatering material,fragile materials including fruits and vegetables, gravel, coal andother similar materials, and more particularly directed to themethod andapparatus for separating liquids from solids'as themixture is conveyedfrom -'one position to another.

"Iheprin'cipal -object "of this invention is the method "and apparatusfor dewatering materials at the time that they are conveyed from onepositiontoa'nother.

,Another object of this invention is the "pro vision of *a method andapparatus for separating liquids and solids while conveying the latter.

Anotherob'iect i's 'theprovision of a feeder-cohveyor arran ed toprecipitate a liquid from a solid as the latter is being conveyed.

Other objects and advantages appear hereinafter "in the followingdescription and claims.

A practical embodiment illustrating "the principles of this invention isshown in the accompanying drawing wherein:

'Fig. 1 isa viewin side-eleva'tion of a conveyor arranged for dewateringmaterial.

'Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the conveyor illustratedfin Fig. '1. A

"Figffifi's an end elevation of the conveyor illustr'ated in Fig. '1.Fig.4 is aside-elevation 'of a conveyor arranged to separate "a liquidfrom a solid, a solid being conveyed in one direction and the liquidbeing discharged in the opposite direction.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawings, the conveyor 1'8 "consists ofthe vibratory motor "H and the conveyor trough 82. The vibratory motor Il contains an electromagnetic field member 9 within the heavy 'motorcasting 13. The sides of the casting I3 are provided with the slots 14'for receiving the ends of a 'series of leaf springs I5 which aresecured at their ends to the base casting l3 by the T-shaped clampingbar l6 fastened by means of the bolts H. The armature iii of thevibratory motor is secured to the intermediate portion of the leafsprings 45 and is held in spaced relation with the electromagnetic fieldmember 9 to provide a magnetic coupling therebetween. A pair of spacedrigid triangular plate members 28 and 2! aresecured at one end to thearmature member H3. The lower edges of the plate member 25 and 2! areprovided with the inturned reinforcing flanges 22. The upper edges ofthe plate members 2%! and 2i are provided with the outwardly projectingflanges 27:3 which are welded crotherwise secured to the undersideof thefloor 2-4 of the conveying trough =12. With this structure a linealvibratory motion of the armature is transmitted to the conveyor at 2 anangle of approximately -20 whichprovides a Vibratory conveyin actionthereto. The Side Walls 25 of the conve s-1g trough l2 are formedintegral with the floor 24. The back end of the side walls and floor ofthe conveying trough are formed integral with the rear wall 26. Thisconveying trough must made of relatively heavy material so that it isincapable of vibrating save as a unit.

A wedge bar screen conveying surface '21 is mounted in the conveyingtrough intermediate the floor and the top of the walls. As shown each ofthese wedge bars are shaped to provide-a relatively wide top surface anda relatively narrow bottom edge as shown 3 and are preferably welded inspaced relation to the cross members 28 and 29 which maintain the barsin fixed relation and provide a rigid conve ing noor surface. The endsof the cross bars 28 and 29 are secured to the longtitudinal members 30and 3-'| which in turn are secured to the-sides 25 of the trough bymeans of the -series of the bolts 32.

The front end of the plates 20 and Zl together with the floor and sidewalls of the trough l2 are welded or otherwise secured to the U-shapehanger member 33 which terminates atth'e underside of the outwardlyprojecting flanges -3'4 along the top of the side walls 25 of theconv'eyor trough. Angle brackets 35 are secured to the upper end of thehanger member 33 which are provided "with openings for receiving thehanger eye bolts 36. Resilient "means such as the coil springs 3 arepositioned between the spring seats '38 and the angle brackets 35 andare held by "meansof the nuts'39 for the purpose of resilientlysupporting the front end of the feeder conveyor. flh'e lower ends of thecables 31a are secured to the eye bolts 36 "for the purpose ofsuspending the front end of the conveyor trough from the ceiling. Therear end of the feeder conveyor is supported by a similar anglebracket35 secured to the sides of the motor base member [3 and providedw'ithasiin'ilar resilient means for 'suspending the rear end ofthe feederconveyor from the ceiling. I

It will be noted that the floor 24 of the conveyor trough l2 terminatesshort or the en :Qf the conveyor surface I"! as indicated at Whensuspending the vibr'atoryffeeder on the (fables S'lafthe 'rear end ofthe feeder is made slightly higher than the front end of the feeder sothat liquids will now down the incline sloping conveyor "trough floor 24and will be discharged from the end 40 and received by the collector 4|which directs the liquid to 'any suitable receptacle. If the floor 24and the material conveying surface 21 are disposed parallel with oneanother it is necessary to hang the feeder con- 3 veyor with the rearend tilted higher than the front end to produce an incline plane thatwill cause the water to be discharged at the front of the conveyortrough. An angle of one or two degrees to the horizontal is sufficientto effect the flow of liquid to the front of the conveyor trough. If itis desirable to maintain the material conveying surface 21 in ahorizontal position, then the longitudinal members 30 and 3| may besecured to the side walls 25 of the conveyor trough to provide a slopeof fromone to two degrees relative to the floor '24 of the trough. Witha structure of this character the suspension cables are adjusted tosupport the material conveying surface 21 in a horizontal plane and thefloor 24 of the trough will then slope downwardly and forwardly at anangle from one to two degrees.

If it is desired to remove the liquid from the conveyor trough at theback end the rear wall 42 of the conveyor trough may be provided with anopening 43 arranged to discharge the liquid into the chute 44 which maybe directed to any suitable container. In this instance the conveyortrough is supported with its front end slightly higher to permit thewater to flow back along the floor 24 and be discharged into the chute44 whereas the material is fed along the conveying surface 21 to thefrontof the conveyor trough. If the conveyor surface 21 and floor 24 ofthe conveyor trough are disposed at an angle to one another convergingat the front end of the feeder, the feeder trough will of course be 1supported to position the conveying surface 21 in a horizontal'plane andthe liquid Will then travel rearwardly down the floor 24 of the troughto the chute 44. r

The conveying rate of the spaced wedge bar screen conveying surface 21of solid particles is substantially the same as that obtainable by theuse of a solid trough surface. The flowing motion transmitted to thematerial by the vibratory action of the conveyor causes the solidparticles of material to move forwardly at a substantially uniform ratewhile inertia and gravity are effective on the liquid portion of thematerial causing it to flow vertically downwardly through the wedge barscreen conveying surface 21 to the bottom 24 of the conveyor trough.Owing to the fact thatthe wedge bar conveying surface 21 issubstantially horizontal or disposed at'a small angle, the liquid willnot flow along the upper and under surface of the bars but will drop tothe trough floor 24. Thus as the conveyor feeds the material forwardlythe liquid is caused to precipitate downwardly with no tendency to flowhorizontally with the solid. l

Vibratory conveyors of the type shown when operated on 60 cyclealternating current will produce 3600 vibrations per minute which willrapidly draw the water from the material as it is conveyed over arelatively short distance on the conveying surface 21. With thevibratorymovement of the character provided by the angular disposedmotor H, there is no splattering of the liquid in the air or relative tothe solid as the latter flows along theconveyor-and the water flows downand along the bottom '24 to discharge.

A vibratory feeder movement is obtained on the wedge bar screenconveying surface,- such as shown at 21, when it i substantiallyhorizontal and very fine material may beconveyed along this surface eventhough it is materiallysmaller in diameter than the spacing between thewedge bars. For example approximately ninety per cent of certainmaterials of 100 mesh size may be conveyed along the wedge bar conveyingscreen surface 21 when the spacing between the wedge bars isubstantially greater than that of a mesh size. Thus a feeder conveyorof this type is decidedly inefficient as a dry classifier but highlyefficient as a dewaterer or liquid and solid separator and it allows theuse of a much larger screen mesh for a conveying surface than would beotherwise possible with any other type agitating separator.

When separating relatively large particles of clay from clay slip orslurry the wedge bar conveying surface 21 may be replaced by screencloth conveying surface of a mesh incapable of passing the undesirablesized particles. The material is then passed over the screen and theusable slurry is withdrawn, the largerparticles being discarded orreturned for crushing and reprocessing. This structure is alsoapplicable for use in removing unslacked lime from milk of lime. Theseparation of liquids from solids by this method is speedily andefficiently accomplished.

I claim: a

1. A dewatering apparatus for wetted fruit and l) vegetables comprisinga rigid unitary structure including a trough having solid bottom andside walls and a rigid screen of spaced parallel bars secured to eachother and providing a smooth continuous longitudinal conveyor surface inthe trough, said screen conveyor surface being supported from said sideWalls of said trough and spaced above the trough bottom with the barsdisposed longitudinally of the trough, resilient means supporting therigid unitary structure of the trough with the screen in a substantiallyhorizontal plane, and an electromagnetic motor mounted to reciprocatethe trough and screen at a high frequency and low magnitude toprecipitate the liquid from the wetted fruit and vegetables to thebottom of the trough where it is run 011 while simultaneously conveyingthe fruit and vegetables from one end of the screen to the other, and adischarge means for directing the precipitated liquid from one end ofthe trough bottom and in spaced relation from the position where thematerials are discharged from the screen to independently control theliquid and REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record inthe file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,632,180 Forrest June 14, 19271,886,174 Flint et a1 Nov. 1, 1932 2,019,547 Theobald Nov. 5, 19352,153,243 Flint Apr. 4, 1939 2,163,249 Sherwen June 20, 1939 2,167,236Gieseler July 25, 1939 2,183,896 Rupp et a1. Dec. 19, 1939 2,246,024Vogel-Jorgensen June 17, 1941

